Eastern wisdom says: "The growth of a man is measured not from the ground to the head, but from the head to the sky." The large airspace inside the apartment is an essential factor that ensures the mental health of the individual. It is very difficult to get used to the fact that in the Khrushchevka the ceiling literally presses on the shoulders. Therefore, the level of the top overlap is one of the most important criteria in the selection of new housing. In the process of repair, the initial advantage should be used sensibly. Thoroughly thought out the design of an apartment with high ceilings in the first phase of the project, at the last owners will receive a harmoniously decorated room in which it will be comfortable to stay.
The space from the steps to the floor is used as a wardrobe with pull-out sections, or left open, equipping with a reading space or mini-cabinet. Vertically delineating the volume of the room, it is possible to significantly increase the living space, create full-fledged disjoint zones for active life and quiet rest. Especially interesting projects like these look in a modern style with elements of loft or minimalism. The use of glass for the steps and guarding of the stairs makes the basic design virtually invisible, and a large array of air allows the use of large-scale art objects when decorating an apartment.
Correcting the proportions: the most successful solutions
Among the variety of decorating techniques visually harmonizing the space of great height, we can especially note four options:
- Use of friezes when decorating walls with tiles or wallpaper;
- Selection of wallpaper-companion for pasting the top and bottom of the wall, the use of wallpaper curb;
- Coloring the ceiling in a dark color, echoing with the floor, the selection of a light volumetric decor (rosette for a chandelier, wide strips of ceiling relief);
- Folding the top quarter of the walls with figured molding, filling the top of the wall and ceiling with one color.
In a one-room apartment, where the height is much higher than the standard, it is logical to occupy the upper space of non-residential premises with storage areas. The main thing in this case is to provide a convenient lifting system that provides access to the compartments. In the two-room for an existing bedroom, an intriguing solution is to create a "starry sky" on the ceiling surface with the help of coloring, the operation of a special projector or the installation of the smallest LEDs. The height of a small kitchenette in the style of a country will help to adjust the installation under the ceiling of a rough wooden shelf, where there are three-dimensional objects of decor: clay jugs, dishes, massive ceramic mugs. On the underside of the shelf hooks are attached: copper frying pans, antique kitchen utensils, painted boards are hung there.
Style combined with simplicity creates beauty
When decorating a high space designers are advised to adhere to the rule of the triangle, the vertices of which are the terms "style", "beauty", "simplicity". The most successful design projects necessarily combine all three concepts. Try to remove one of them - the interior of the house will seriously suffer:
- Exactly withstood the style, capturing the room aesthetically attractive elements of decor, but not having coped with the requirement of simplicity, you will get a house overloaded with small things, clearly bearing a sense of disorder;
- Taking care of the beauty of the furnishings and the simplicity of the design work, but having missed the sense of style, you can come to the style chaos that will ruin the whole impression of the new repair;
- Restricting yourself only to simplicity and conformity to the style, but forgetting about the need to fill the home with beautiful things, you will not feel harmony, impoverish the very idea of the interior.
Reducing the height of light: we present several possible options
Light is an important design tool, especially its important role becomes if necessary to level out the shortcomings of the room. Visually "lower" too high a ceiling helps:
- Arrangement of plafonds on meter hangers in a row, if the room is small (kitchen, hallway);
- Decoration of square rooms of considerable size by volume chandeliers (modern and classical versions of products are possible);
- Accommodation in the corridors, bathroom sconces slightly above the level of the head of a person;
- Selection of models of fixtures with downwardly directed apertures of plafonds;
- Installation above the kitchen table lamp with adjustable suspension height to create a cozy atmosphere of evening meals.
Large-scale multi-lamp chandeliers of interesting design can visually cut off unnecessary height, making the room more proportional.
Artwork, as elements of decoration
High ceiling allows you to decorate any room with dimensional artwork. This can be separate canvases, modular paintings, photographs in a dense "carpet" hanging, posters, modern installations, bas-reliefs, panels, murals, graffiti elements.
The main rules for placing art objects on the walls are:
- The use of horizontal direction as a main axis when weighing;
- Accent one wall;
- Selection of frames of a square or horizontal-rectangular format.
We switch viewers' interest: we focus on the wall
Constructive lowering of the ceiling level can make an unplanned gap in the repair budget. However, there is the possibility of visual "deception". An abstract wall can distract attention from the excessive height of the room. Depending on the preferences of the owners of the house it is issued:
- wallpaper contrasting with the main tone of the finish;
- wallpaper repeating the main tone, but differing ornamentally (using variants with a large pattern);
- three-dimensional flat installations;
- finishing materials with a pronounced texture;
- light decorative panels;
- mirror imitation of window openings.
The bright decorativeness of one of the walls is able to hold the human eye, to arouse the viewer's interest. Other surfaces remain out of focus, look neutral, the blemishes of the proportions of the room are smoothed out, made imperceptible.
We make up the window: we use curtains in the design equation
Traditional dense curtains, located on the sides of the windows, visually further increase the height of the room. Balancing the proportions of the room is possible with the help of decorating tricks:
- Place curtain rails for curtains directly above the window opening or inside it;
- Provide folded curtains that cover only the upper part of the window;
- Decorate the lower half of the frame with curtains on the a-la peyzan rail;
- Use Roman blinds;
- Close the windows of the wooden blinds to the size of the opening;
- To mount internal latticed shutters up to half the window;
- Refuse from the fabric design, leaving the window frames open.
Each of these options will be appropriate only in the room of a certain style. Shutters will fit in interiors in English and French colors, blinds and open windows will emphasize the modern design of the home, curtains with curtains will give a tribute to the classics.
Ceiling beams - a good way to adjust the height
One of the decorating techniques that reduce the overall level of the height of the room is the use of open beams. Walled wooden structures, painted with dark tinting compositions, are well below the main ceiling. On its light background, the beams create a three-dimensional ornament that fills the upper part of the space. Linear, diagonal variants are used, as well as crossing at right angles. In private chalet-style houses, solid logs can act as beams, and country-style trusses will support trusses.
Read also: Design apartment 70 square meters. m: advice and ideas 
If the beams are not constructive, but only decorator elements, to facilitate the load on the ceiling close to the ceiling, polyurethane products imitate the shape of wooden rafters, but hollow inside. Their surface repeats the texture of the tree, can be painted in different colors, close to the natural tones of wood.
The use of lightweight pseudo-beams allows to optimize the installation of electrical cables for ceiling luminaires - the wires are laid inside the molds, the pinpoints are easily drilled.
Textured ceiling - reduce height visually and constructively
Any texture makes a smooth boring surface interesting, adds to it the volume, enhances the play of light and shadow. In the case of the upper ceiling of the room, texture can be given to it both by constructive elements and by artistic methods.
| Volumetric structural elements | Planar artistic techniques |
| Caissons | Divided parts of one surface |
| Fiberglass multi-level ceiling | Decorative picturesque plafonds |
| Air ducts, pipes, metal hanging constructions in the loft style | Projector lighting |
| Sockets under the chandelier, decorative ceiling moldings in combination with bas-relief ceiling cornices |
Work on bugs: 7 "best" ways to make the ceiling even higher
When developing a design project for an apartment with high ceilings, it is necessary to abandon receptions that can make a room stretched upwards, disrupt the established proportions.
- Use in artifacts in narrow high rooms, art objects located vertically;
- Underlining the height of the windows, when echoing them, the curtains begin from the ceiling and lie on the floor;
- Installation of stretch ceilings with a glossy surface, the placement of mirrors on the ceiling;
- Illumination of the ceiling cornices;
- Interior decoration with wallpaper, tiles with vertically oriented strips, ornaments;
- Location on the walls of lamps with light rays pointing upwards;
- Building book shelves to ceiling level. In this case, it is preferable to narrow bookshelves in the uppermost part of the walls that surround the room around the perimeter.
Change the minus to plus
A significant ceiling height can be both a big plus, and a huge minus when decorating a house. Everything depends on how well the space is properly decorated, how the unsuccessful proportions of rooms are adjusted, visual accents are placed. Small altitudes are contraindicated for large altitudes: being inside the "well" is too difficult psychologically. Perhaps in order for the apartment to turn into a comfortable home, you will need a redevelopment, thoroughly calculated zoning, serious work on the selection of finishing materials. However, the end result is a voluminous room, saturated with air, with extended boundaries, is worth the maximum effort.
